50 Years Ago, Amidst the Turmoil and Counterculture of the Late 1960s, Southern California Was the Epicenter of a Global Religious Revival

The unassuming entrance to Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, where hippies, druggies and others in the counterculture flocked to hear the teaching of Pastor Chuck Smith in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Photo from May 2021

The late 1960s were times of epic change and turmoil. Riots and protests spread through U.S. cities, amidst racial tensions and opposition to an unpopular war in Vietnam. A number of political leaders were assassinated. Geopolitical tensions in North Korea and Southeast Asia threatened to spawn World War III. About 1 million people worldwide died of a respiratory virus pandemic that began in China. All norms, standards and traditions were being challenged by a global youth-led counterculture movement.

Amidst the unrest came a surprising movement emanating from Southern California’s Orange County.

An evangelical Christian religious revival centered among former drug addicts, bikers, hippies, astrologists and counterculturals began in Los Angeles and Orange counties in 1968. It rapidly spread up and down the West Coast; then across the U.S.; and finally overseas to Europe, Central America, Australasia and other places.

By 1971, the movement was front-page news around the world. The June 21 cover of Time magazine proclaimed the “Jesus Revolution” that was transforming America’s youth and young adults.

The Associated Press even named the movement among its top 10 stories of the year.

Dubbed the Jesus Movement, the revival had a number of factions. Some were cultic in expression, but many others adhered to mainstream evangelical Christianity. The movement was a major part of what historians and scholars, including economist Robert Fogel, often call the Fourth Great Awakening – a period in the late 20th century in which conservative Judeo-Christian belief and practice again became a major force in American and global society.

From contemporary Christian music to the religious right to nondenominational and post-denominational churches, the legacy of the Orange County-birthed Jesus Movement continues in most communities across the Western world.

The Jesus Movement’s Birthplace in Costa Mesa

If there were a single location that could be considered the origin of the Jesus Movement, it would be Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.

In 1965, Chuck Smith, a graduate of Santa Ana High School and San Dimas’ Life Pacific University, assumed the pastorate of the church, which at the time was a congregation of only 25 people.

Chuck Smith’s wife, Kay, felt a burden to minister to the multitudes of hippies, many homeless and substance abusing, that lived on the beaches and in the parks and streets of Orange County at the time.

Soon, scores of young hippies were attending the doctrinally conservative Calvary Chapel, and within a few years, the church’s growth to 2,000 congregants necessitated meeting outdoors in a tent.

Calvary Chapel was influential in the founding of group homes in which former drug addicts could start a new life. Many eventually entered full-time ministry themselves, resulting in the founding and spread of such denominational expressions as Calvary Chapel and Anaheim-based Vineyard churches.

A look back at the Jesus Movement, on display at the Fellowship Hall of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa. Photo from May 2021

Visiting the Epicenter, a Half Century Later

Today, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, located at 3800 S. Fairview Street in Santa Ana, has more than 10,000 attendees, a K-12 private school, and even a professional building housing a number of ministries and commercial interests, including a Christian radio station.

The most accessible part of the campus for the visitor is The Chapel Store, which sells Christian books (including a good many on the history of the Jesus Movement and its continuing legacy), art and gift items. There is also a large clearance area and some vintage books, including early Biblical commentaries. The store is open daily except Mondays.

If you take in a service, lecture or event on the sprawling campus, be sure to check out the display on the history of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, which is located in the Fellowship Hall. It’s a look back at the height of the Jesus Movement, in photo.

• Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa

Another spot to visit is Pirate’s Cove Beach in Newport Beach’s Corona del Mar neighborhood, just across the strait from the Balboa Peninsula. The calm waters of this beach made it an ideal place for large baptisms during the height of the Jesus Movement. Such beach baptisms became one of the most memorable aspects of the movement.

The beach is accessible by parking in the Corona del Mar neighborhood and accessing Lookout Point Park (a great spot to photograph a dramatic sunrise or sunset) at the corner of Ocean Boulevard and Heliotrope Avenue. Stairs lead down to the beach.

Pirate’s Cove Beach viewed from Lookout Point Park. Photo from July 2016

• Pirates Cove

For More on the Jesus Movement

Interested in learning more about the surprising religious movement that began in Orange County? A great place to start is by reading Jesus Revolution: How God Transformed an Unlikely Generation and How He Can Do It Again Today, a 2018 book written by Jesus Movement convert and evangelist Greg Laurie and New York Times bestselling author Ellen Vaughn.

Looking at the history of the late 1960s and early 1970s, compared with conditions at present, Laurie and Vaughn examine how the Jesus Movement developed and grew, and how a repeat of such a movement might well be in America’s future.

Visit Ancient Egypt’s Ramses II and His Abu Simbel Temple at a Chino Hills Shopping Center

The four massive likenesses of Ramses II at Abu Simbel, recreated in Chino Hills. Photo from June 2021

Off the 71 Freeway in Chino Hills, The Commons at Chino Hills Shopping Center, which is anchored by Lowes and Hobby Lobby, seems much like dozens of other upscale strip centers in suburban Southern California. But between Hobby Lobby and a restaurant row is a most unlikely site: a replica of Abu Simbel, the 13th century B.C. temples in Aswan, Egypt, carved by the famed Pharaoh Ramses II.

The Chino Hills structure, which draws a constant stream of locals and tourists alike seeking an opportunity to take a selfie in front of one of the massive stone likenesses of Ramses or his wife Nefertari, is the future home of Farou Food, an Egyptian restaurant that has been in the works for years, yet has been repeatedly delayed amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and other challenges.

As it exists now, the interior of the 5,945 square foot building is closed to tourists, though a view through the window of the locked doors reveals an empty space with some construction materials.

But the amazing intricacies of the exterior make this certainly worth a stop, and perhaps even a good 30 minutes or so of review.

The Egyptian goddess Hathor of the sky, women, fertility and love adorns the western wall of Farou Food in Chino Hills. Photo from June 2021

The interior eastern wall, visible from elsewhere in the sprawling strip center, reveals the name and intention behind the Ancient Egyptian edifice in Chino Hills. Photo from June 2021

The eastern side of the edifice (facing Hobby Lobby) has four likenesses of Ramses II, the storied Egyptian leader who many historians believe was the pharaoh of the Biblical Exodus. One of the statues at the original Abu Simbel was damaged shortly after construction three millennia ago. True to form, the Chino Hills replica has one statue missing its head. Around the legs are smaller statues featuring family members of Ramses.

Four additional likenesses of Ramses and two of Nefertari grace the northern and southern sides of the structure, while the western side features pillars with images of the goddess Hathor and other figures.

If plans stay on track, one day Farou Food will offer Southern Californians the opportunity to try delectable Lebanese, Persian and Mediterranean cuisine. But for now, its status as a remarkable historical site makes it a worthy addition to any Inland Empire trip. And I believe this structure would make for a great Egyptian history and culture museum!

The intricacies of Ancient Egyptian architecture are all the more remarkable when considering that the originals were constructed without modern building methods or technology. Photo from June 2021

• Chino Hills Parkway

A Friend of Corrie ten Boom Shares About Her Holocaust Heroism and Orange County Golden Years in June 10 Presentation

If any Southern Californian could provide a personal look at Holocaust heroine Corrie ten Boom, it would be Cal State Fullerton emeritus professor of history Ron Rietveld.

Part of the university’s history faculty since 1969, Rietveld was an active member of the North Orange County community in the late 1970s and early 1980s when ten Boom spent her golden years in a home in Placentia.

Since Rietveld spoke Dutch, he was invited to meet with ten Boom during her 1974 visit to Southern California.

The two became close friends, and prior to her death in 1983, ten Boom named Rietveld her personal historian and custodian of her personal papers.

On June 10, 2021, the aged Rietveld discussed Corrie ten Boom’s story and her Orange County days, and his personal connections with ten Boom, in a virtual meeting of the Orange County Historical Society.

Zoom technology brought the presentation to a global audience that even included a high school class in South Korea, which had recently done a school play about ten Boom’s story.

Watch the 51-minute presentation in the YouTube video below. Or read more about ten Boom’s time in Southern California in my April 2021 article.

This is a great resource to share with anyone interested in Orange County or Southern California, Holocaust history, European history, World War II or women’s history. It is an inspiring story that will rekindle your faith in humanity and is a great educational tool for parents and teachers to share with older children or young people.

Cal State Fullerton emeritus professor of history Ron Rietveld discusses Corrie ten Boom.

In the Early 1900s, Southern California Citrus Growing Methods Were a Prototype for Early Israeli Farmers

A camel laden with orange boxes in Mandatory Palestine in the early 1900s. Public domain photo from the G. Eric and Edith Matson Photograph Collection

Jaffa (known in Biblical times as Joppa) is today the oldest section of the Israeli cosmopolitan Tel Aviv-Yafo region, the gateway to the Holy Land for business, secular tourism, technology and political contacts. But a century ago, this city had a close relationship with Southern California’s Inland Empire. Both regions were striking it rich in the citrus growing industry. And the Southern California model was the prototype for Jaffa’s success.

Prior to World War I, the land now known as Israel and Palestine was under the control of the Ottoman Empire, which was centered in what is today Turkey. After the war and subsequent collapse of the empire, the region came under British rule. Since the British had a mandate from the League of Nations (the predecessor to the United Nations), the period is known as Mandatory Palestine, and lasted from 1917 to 1948.

During the Ottoman Era, mainly Arab farmers were cultivating citrus in the Jaffa area, using traditional methods. But the region’s fortunes changed beginning in the 1850s, when American settlers, followed by Jewish Zionists, began farming in the region.

E.C. Miller, in her study, Eastern Sketches: Notes of Scenery, Schools, and Tent Life in Syria and Palestine, reported that in the last quarter of the 19th century, about 10 million oranges were being exported from the Jaffa area each year. The town was surrounded by 300 to 400 orange groves, with shamuti oranges serving as the major crop, though citrons, lemons and mandarin oranges were also mainstays. At the time, Arab entrepreneurs were marketing Palestinian citrus to England and Europe.

After the 1917 Balfour Declaration gave support for Jewish settlement in their ancient homeland of Israel, Jewish growers gradually became more prominent in the citrus industry in the region.

Nahum Karlinsky of Ben-Gurion University’s Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism and Mustafa Kabha of Israel’s Open University have determined, through historical research, that it was in 1933 that Jewish citriculture became dominant, a byproduct of extensive investment in the Jewish sector of the industry.

But until Israel’s declaration of independence on May 14, 1948, the Jewish and Arab sectors of the citrus industry maintained equal and mutual relations and participated equally in competitions and exhibitions.

California Citriculture Serves as the Prototype for Holy Land Operations

During this time, Southern California citriculture, focused on the Inland Empire but also including large sections of Orange and Los Angeles counties, was the world’s largest citrus producer. With a similar climate to the Mediterranean region, it was an attractive prototype for growers in the Middle East.

Most significantly, the technology, organization and public/private partnerships in the Southern California citrus industry would be copied extensively in Mandatory Palestine.

Karlinsky writes in his 2005 book, California Dreaming: Ideology, Society, and Technology in the Citrus Industry of Palestine, 1890-1939, “the California model was widely known in Palestine; everyone in the industry – not just experts – referred to it routinely and necessarily. Jewish citriculturists knew of it by means of growers’ instruction manuals, public lectures, the press, visiting foreign experts (whose travel expenses were covered by the growers or the government), native-born Jewish farmers who were sent abroad to study agriculture, and Palestinian agronomists and citriculture leaders who visited California to acquire firsthand knowledge of the industry.”

While Jewish leaders admired California’s achievements, they did not necessarily adopt all of the Southern California practices on their farms. For instance, Zionist planters continued using piston pumps driven by internal combustion engines and using ditches for manual irrigation. In California, by contrast, underground cement tubes and electric-driven pumps were becoming the irrigation choice by the 1920s.

Also, Israeli farmers preferred to plant their citrus trees closer together than their Golden State counterparts did.

The hanging Jaffa orange tree in Israel memorializes that country’s citrus past, when Mandatory Palestine relied on California’s booming citriculture as a model. Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Between 1926 and 1936, citrus comprised 75% of Israeli exports, citrus growing communities had blossomed into cities, and citriculture provided 110,000 jobs.

There is also evidence that Inland Empire growers desired to learn from their Israeli counterparts. In 1922, Liberty Groves Operating Corporation in Upland, which at the time operated 500 acres of groves in far western San Bernardino County, received three annual reports directly from the Pardena Cooperative Society of Orange Growers in Jaffa.

In summer 1927, University of California irrigation professor Frank Adams was part of a group tour studying the agriculture of Mandatory Palestine. Perhaps of greatest note, and symbolic of the powerful link between the two citrus empires, was the professor’s experience of a lunch hosted by former California farmers who had relocated to Israel as part of the Zionist movement. Many were even former students of the University of California College of Agriculture.

While California citriculture may have helped develop the citrus industry in modern Israel, the region’s relationship with citrus fruits goes back to before the diaspora, as this display at the California Citrus State Historic Park in Riverside, California, makes clear. Photo from June 2021

Exploring the History of Citriculture in Palestine – In Modern Israel and the Inland Empire

Much as in Southern California, the citrus industry has declined in importance in Israel and Palestine. Still, some citriculture remains profitable in both regions. In Israel’s case, there are 44,500 acres devoted to citrus as of 2018, with about 2,800 growers, 86% of which are located along the Mediterranean coastal strip.

In Jaffa, there is now only one orange tree left – Ran Morin’s Hanging Orange Tree, which is elevated off the ground and stays suspended in the old city. But both regions, nearly half a world away, share the common experience of a citrus boom in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that would nurture the development of a cosmopolitan and modern diversified economy.

To this day, the Citrus Variety Collection at the University of California – Riverside (UCR) contains a specimen of Shamouti sweet orange, which was received as budwood from Israel.

And at the California Citrus State Historic Park at 9400 Dufferin Ave. in the Arlington Heights area of Riverside, knowledgeable docents and interpretive displays at the museum’s visitor center, which is open Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., can provide insights on the global history of citrus, from its roots in China to its spread in the Middle East, southern Europe and finally the Americas.

Discovering Lake Cuyamaca: Jewel of the San Diego County Mountains

The sparkling water of Lake Cuyamaca. Photo from May 2021

Southern California’s San Bernardino Mountains are famous for recreational lakes: Big Bear, Lake Arrowhead and Lake Gregory are some of the most prominent. But few are aware that the mountain lake experience is also available in San Diego County.

Lake Cuyamaca, situated at an altitude of 4,613 feet, offers an opportunity for rest, relaxation, water recreation and nature watching in a pleasant mountain environment. It’s a great weekend trip from San Diego some 50 miles to the west, or for the avid weekend tripper from the Los Angeles, Orange County or Inland Empire regions further north seeking a less traveled experience.

It’s also a great addition to a trip to the laid back mountain town of Julian just seven miles to the north.

The visitor arriving at Lake Cuyamaca on Highway 79 will find the 110-acre reservoir amidst a flat plain surrounded by pine forests. It’s a scene that might be expected in the Rocky Mountain states. After paying a $10 day use fee, find a parking spot at the lakefront lot, before setting out for a day of hiking and nature watching, or boating and fishing.

Floods, Fires and Hurricanes: A Look at Southern California’s Wacky Weather on the Eve of World War II

A newspaper headline on the November 1938 Arrowhead fire, on display at the San Bernardino County Museum. Photo from April 2021

Today’s Southern Californians have become accustomed to reports of devastating wildfires, while those old enough to remember the 1990s recall periodic massive flooding that left its mark on the Golden State.

Certainly, natural disasters in California, as in many parts of the world, have become more extreme in recent decades.

Yet on the eve of World War II, the region also faced an array of unusual meteorological phenomena. It’s largely been forgotten, but the floods, fires and hurricanes that threatened hearth and home in the late 1930s are important for today’s Californians to look back on, providing perspective on the full array of dangers that the state faces.

Massive Floods Hit the Southland

In 2003, in the aftermath of the most devastating wildfires that Southern California has experienced, former U.S. Representative Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) called the blazes “the worst crisis I’ve seen in this region since the 1930s flood.”

The statement was widely quoted in local media, but what of the earlier, almost forgotten disaster, that Lewis recalled from his early childhood in the Inland Empire?

In 1913, Southern California Was Under the Polar Vortex. It Transformed the Region’s Economy, Helped Found a UC Campus and Gave Rise to a U.S. President.

Scenes such as this spelled devastation to Southern California farmers in 1913.

In the early 1900s, Southern California’s Inland Empire was awash with wealth spawned by a boom in the citrus industry. The downtowns of cities such as Riverside and Redlands were among the most prosperous communities in the United States at the time.

Today, the citrus industry’s impact continues, but is much smaller than in the past, with the Arlington Heights area of Riverside the only large remaining area under citrus cultivation.

Suburban sprawl amidst the postwar economic prosperity and changing economic priorities are all factors in the decline in Inland Empire agriculture, but even before that, the citrus empire began to crumble due to a natural disaster that seems most out of character in Southern California’s balmy climate: the Big Freeze of 1913.

An Arctic Blast Hits Southern California

Citrus trees thrive in the climate of Inland Southern California, which features hot, dry summers, and mild winters, though often with cold nights.

But if temperatures fall into the 20s for a prolonged period (the exact threshold varies by plant type), serious crop damage can result.

Recalling California’s Political Earthquake: A Look Back on the Highlights (and Locations) of the 2003 Election

Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigning at the Los Angeles Arboretum in Arcadia in 2003. Photo by Ho-Yen Tsang – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34203649

It was one of the most unusual episodes in California political history. On Oct. 7, 2003, California voters ousted second-term Democrat Gray Davis, who had a decades-long Sacramento political career, and replaced him with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger, an actor and outsider born in Austria who led a field of 135 potential candidates to replace the unpopular incumbent.

Davis had been reelected in the regularly-scheduled gubernatorial election in November 2002, but an unpopular vehicle registration fee increase, electricity grid malfunctions and budgetary woes prompted Californians to expel their governor from office before his term was up. It was the first time that a recall was successfully used against a statewide officeholder in California history.

Today, California is again facing a gubernatorial recall election, as Governor Gavin Newsom faces opposition to his decisions during the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2003 recall election helps to inform the process involved in recalling a state chief executive, and what may or may not happen this time.

An Attempt at Direct Democracy

Back in 1911, California and the rest of the nation was impacted by the Progressive Movement, which called for reform and modernization in democracy and government on all levels.

One progressive measure, which was added to the state’s constitution in 1911, was the recall, which allows California voters to remove an officeholder from power outside of the typical election cycle if recall organizers can collect a predetermined number of valid signatures from California voters.

In a recall election, voters are faced with two questions: First, should the officeholder be removed from power? Second, who should replace him or her if they are removed?

Since 1939, when Governor Culbert Olson faced an unsuccessful recall petition effort, almost every California governor has faced recall attempts. But except for the successful 2003 ouster of Governor Davis, these efforts have failed to collect enough signatures to make it to the ballot.

For more on California recall procedures (which apply not only to governors, but also other state and local elected officials), check out the Secretary of State’s Procedure for Recalling State and Local Officials (PDF).

The Recall Gets Real

Even for politically astute Californians, the recall was little more than an obscure term learned in a civics class until spring 2003, when efforts to so remove Governor Davis picked up momentum.

San Diego County Republican Congressman Darrell Issa funded an effort to get signatures for a recall effort – 1.3 million signatures were collected by July 8, 2003.

On July 23, then Secretary of State Kevin Shelley certified a recall election, and an Oct. 7 election day was set.

Less than one month later, on Aug. 13, a certified list of 135 candidates was announced, which included Schwarzenegger, who announced his bid during an Aug. 6 taping of the Jay Leno show.

Schwarzenegger’s announcement occurred at stage 11 of the Burbank Studios, a more than 18,000 square-foot space in the complex at 3000 W. Alameda Ave. in Burbank. While this facility is no longer open for tours, it is still home to Days of Our Lives, Extra and iHeart radio.

The next day, as hundreds of fans looked on, Schwarzenegger visited the Los Angeles County Registrar’s Office at 12400 Imperial Highway in Norwalk to file his paperwork to get in the race. Today’s political history buff desiring a selfie at this spot can also enjoy some fresh produce at the Norwalk Farmer’s Market, which is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays at the adjacent Norwalk City Hall at 12700 Norwalk Blvd.

In modern American politics, campaigns are usually measured in many months and often a year or two. But Schwarzenegger used his stardom to get across the finish line – despite some scandals – in just two months and one televised debate.

And that was even without appearing in the state’s official voter guide, which was mailed to all registered voters in the Golden State (only candidates who agreed to abide by spending limits were eligible to have statements in the guide).

On the evening of Oct. 7, 2003, Schwarzenegger declared victory in the recall election after being projected the winner by major media outlets. His speech, in which he uttered the famous words “for the people of California to win, politics as usual must lose,” occurred in the ballroom of The Century Plaza Hotel at 2025 Avenue of the Stars in Los Angeles’ Century City. The hotel is reopening in 2021 after being closed for a multiyear renovation. It is now under the management of Fairmont Hotels and Resorts.

Video of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s victory speech at The Century Plaza Hotel on Oct. 7, 2003.

For More on the Recall

For the definitive history of the 2003 recall election and its consequences and legacy, read Recall!: California’s Political Earthquake by San Jose State University political science professors Larry N. Gerston and Terry Christensen. With an examination of the political, social and economic factors that made the 2003 recall possible, it’s enlightening reading as the state gears for a potential repeat.

Yermo: California’s Largest Gas Station and a Tribute to Those Suffering Under Chinese Communism, on the Way to Vegas

The iconic ice cream sundae off Calico Road leads visitors to the largest gas station in California. Photo from April 2021

As the Southern Californian heads east to Las Vegas on Interstate 15, the last community of any significance that they encounter is Yermo, an unincorporated town of nearly 2,000 people situated about 13 miles east of Barstow. Derived from a Spanish word for “wilderness,” it’s an apt description of this desolate place, surrounded by barren mountains in the Mojave Desert, where civilization won’t greet the traveler again for nearly 130 miles.

But in recent years, this community has begun to take on a character of its own, in addition to being the typical roadside stop in the vast California desert.

In early 2018, the town welcomed the grand opening of Eddie World off the Calico Road exit on the I-15, which currently ranks as the largest gas station in California, but is really more of a shopping and dining destination in its own right. Perhaps not quite a mall in the traditional sense, but not far from it, either.

About 26,000 square feet in size, the main indoor store includes a mammoth selection of candies, nuts, dried fruit and stuffed animals.

Dining options include pizza, sandwiches, salads, sushi, jerky (with free samples in many flavors) and burgers at three fast-casual restaurants, along with ample space for indoor dining that is open again post-pandemic.

And this is a great destination for the California sports fan: The establishment has a wall dedicated to the Los Angeles Lakers, even including part of the original court at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, where the acclaimed basketball team played from 1967 to 1999, during which time they won six NBA championship titles.

Art lovers will be drawn to an array of paintings and graphic messages, many inspirational, in the food court area.

There’s 26 fueling islands, ensuring no shortage of spots to get gas on your trip, even during the busiest weekends. With 18 super-charging stations for Tesla electric vehicles, Eddie World also has its eye on the future of road travel, ensuring that it will be part of the California landscape for years to come.

Stained Glass, Celtic and Greco-Roman Revival Architecture, and Rare Plants At Orange County’s Fairhaven Memorial Park

The mausoleum at Santa Ana’s Fairhaven Memorial Park. Photo from April 2021

Since its founding in 1911, the Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana has ranked among the most beautiful and well-appointed cemeteries in Southern California, providing the final resting place for many of Orange County’s most illustrious residents.

Among the noted personalities interred there are Clarence Fender, who founded Fender guitars in Fullerton; Pamela Morrison, widow of rock legend Jim Morrison; Corrie ten Boom, the Dutch watchmaker who helped hundreds of Jews and others escape Nazi persecution before spending her golden years in Placentia; and members of the Irvine, Fluor and Moulton families that helped found modern Orange County.

Established by a number of local businesspeople, including Oliver Linden Halsell, the park was designed to make visitors feel as though they are in the solitude of a beautiful open space, rather than a stark resting place for the dead.

Today, the memorial park, while the somber resting place of many, is also among the most beautiful destinations in the county, of interest to the history buff, botanist, and lover of art and architecture. It’s a great place to spend an afternoon on a good weather day.